Legends Saga: Rise of the Tamers
by Night-Hawk775
Summary: The Shinjuku Tamers weren't the only ones in their world with Digimon. And one group made its mark in an entirely different way in America. Yeah, I know the summary sucks, but here goes read the opener for more information.
1. Beginning of a Legend

A/N: This is my first story, though I've been working on things like this and related to this for a bit. This story is the first part (chronologically) of a longer saga that spans two accounts. The first, mine, will follow the adventures of a first- a Tamer group in America. Taking place in the same continuity and relative timeline of the 3rd season of Digimon, this series will include stories written by myself and my sister (link/screen name to follow). My fics will primarily follow the characters in the following story, whilst my sister's will focus on another group in Japan coming at a later time.

For now though, that's all the details needed- enjoy, read, and review.

The events of this fic take place approximately a year and a half before the events of Tamers (season 3). In this version of continuity, Tamers begins in the spring of 2004 with the introduction of Guilmon in April or so, and conclude in November of 2004 with the defeat of the D-Reaper.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon; however, I do own the original characters and Digimon (list to come later). My sister owns Kaio.

**Legends Saga: Rise of the Tamers**

_Chapter 1- Beginning of a Legend_

**Early morning; September 22nd, 2003**

**Location: Unknown**

"Are you sure about this group? They seem a bit…rough around the edges." The first commented, frowning.

"Was not the first group?" The second being countered, taking an equal footing with the other.

"True…but they at least had something in common. These ones…they seem more at random."

"As do the others you've suggested in Japan."

"Well, yes…but…" The first replied, chewing his words carefully.

"You don't know them? They're not from Japan? If you're measuring them against the original groups, it won't be easy." The second's words seemed to hit the mark, causing a shrug and look of minor annoyance on the other's features.

"I know, I know…it's just this will be the first set of Tamers here…in this portion of Real World."

"Which is exactly why we have to go for different parameters here- we don't know what they will be facing yet."

"Alright, alright…I'll go. But this one in particular," the first said, waving a folder of information, "Is no Kamiya Taichi."

The second chuckled a hearty laugh. "No one can be another Tai Kamiya. In many ways that's both good and bad."

A nod. A sigh. A look of defeat and resentment. "I just hope you're right about this group."

"That makes two of us my friend."

**7:07 a.m.**

**Vernon Hills, Illinois; United States of America**

"Devon! What did you do with my CD player?"

"I didn't touch it, Kaio," Devon Griffen, nearly 14, replied. "Wherever it is, you put it there."

"But didn't you have it last?"

Devon rolled his eyes, tying his shoe and grabbing his bag for school. "Not that I remember, sis. See you after school!"

"Devon!" By the time the younger sibling of the Griffen household yelled her protest, Devon was already out the door. With fairly short brown hair and brown eyes, his face held primarily a reserved look that sometimes changed to show a quick expression of a smile. Standing slightly over average height at 5'8" and with a normal but well-kept build, Devon was the typical American teenager by appearances. Adorned with baggy cargo pants, navy blue t-shirt, and gray Converses, he fit the description fairly well.

"I wish she could learn to keep track of her own stuff," Devon muttered half a block away from his house. It seemed to be a knack for the two of them- his sister couldn't find her things, she asked him where they were, he shrugged in response, thus causing her to continue to bother him. Not that he didn't have his moments as well of course.

A right turn and a few blocks down later, Devon saw his friend, Ani Derajavan struggling to tug his sneakers on, half-walking, half-hopping down the sidewalk. Ani, 13, was slightly shorter than Devon and a bit less possessing in build, but was generally a bit quicker than his older friend. Laying to heritage from India before moving to the United Kingdom, and finally to the United States, his darker skin contrasted his black hair and dark blue eyes. "Coming, Ani?"

"Shortly, yeah," Ani said, still hopping down the sidewalk to get his second shoe on. Devon just shook his head, smiling slightly. "What do you think about basketball today after school?"

"Maybe- I was thinking a movie for the evening."

"Good idea. Plus, we could invite that other girl along…I keep forgetting what's her name again?" Ani asked, thinking through their classmates.

"Catherine," Devon supplied fairly quickly. Covering for such a quick response, he continued on, "We could get them both to come to a movie instead of having Christie watch us play basketball the whole time."

"Complaining, Devon?" Ani replied, waggling his eyebrows and baiting his friend, prompting Devon to roll his eyes.

"Here I thought she was interested in you," Devon retorted, quickening his pace a bit and hiding a smirk.

"Wha? Really?" The comment had the disarming effect Devon hoped it would have, allowing him a quick and victorious glance at Ani's blink and surprised features. "Seriously?"

"Don't know, maybe it slipped my mind," Devon said, grinning in full now.

Ani tried to catch up to his friend as Devon started off in a run the last couple blocks to school. "Hey, you can't just leave me hanging with that- Devon!"

* * *

**9:12 a.m.**

**Chicago, Illinois, United States of America**

"Crazy Americans," muttered a young man with spiky brown hair. Being Japanese in origin, he had an excellent command of the English language, making it sound like his first. Granted, the circumstances that prompted **that** particular talent had other side effects, some of which he lived with to this very day. Wearing a dark red sweater and black jeans, he made his way through one of the largest cities in the United States.

This wasn't his first time in the States, but it would certainly be his most memorable to date. He didn't completely understand why he couldn't have just gone the simple way of travel to the suburb of Chicago, a town of a little under 30,000. Three simple presses of a button would have opened a Gate to what had become his second home, and another press would have placed him in Vernon Hills. He knew that his colleague had stressed upon him the necessity of maintaining a low profile, and even he had to admit that appearing out of nowhere, possibly in a crowded area, would not hold to that principle.

The teen checked his watch, followed by a quick glance at the train timetables flashing on the electronic boards above the central portion of Union Station. Grabbing the bag he had brought with him for the next few days, the young man set out for his northbound train, hoping that the 9:30 out of Chicago would be running on time.

* * *

**11:41 a.m.**

**Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States of America**

_Why can't geography be more interesting…,_ Devon thought, taking in the voice of his teacher. It wasn't that Ms. Tupelos was a bad teacher…it's that Devon's attention was drawn elsewhere. _Thank God today's a half day. Only 5 more minutes and we're outta here._

To his left, Ani and Christie were making subtle gestures and whispered comments next to each other, including the new student from Ireland in their conversations. Christie was a few inches shorter than Devon, no more than 2 inches shorter than Ani. Dark brown hair fell just past her shoulders and brown eyes sparkling with a smile in them, capturing the attention of whoever was speaking with her. Her naturally tanned skin (coming a partial Italian background), coupled with owning a fairly slim build, though not without curves, made her quite attractive.

The three of them, Devon, Ani, and Christie, had been friends for the past 5 years when Christie had moved to Vernon Hills. The slight glint in her eye when she talked to Ani was not missed by the observing Devon, nor the slight mix of tension and flirtation between the two on after school excursions.

The new student, who's name escaped Devon at the moment, was easily identified as being Irish in descent- if not by the accent he spoke with, then definitely by the auburn hair dipping past his ears, slight splattering of freckles on his face, and blazing green eyes. A certain energy seemed to radiate off him through his gazes and more than a few times comments from either the Irishman or Ani rose just loud enough to draw a quick glance from Ms. Tupelos.

Devon also noticed glances from the red-haired Irishman towards another person in the class- one that Devon's attention was mostly drawn to.

Her name was Catherine and the two of them had been friends since the end of the last school year, with their friendship blossoming over summer.; about the same height as Christie, though with a build not as elongated, Catherine has blue eyes a shade darker than ice and light brown hair that brushed the bottom of her shoulder blades. Seated a pair of seats forward and one to his right, Devon could see she was also a bit hazy on the current listen, tapping the eraser end of her pencil against the desk. Devon couldn't take his mind off the frost blue of her eyes, despite not being able to see them at the moment…

"Devon, do you have the answer?"

"Huh?" Devon asked, tearing his gaze away from Catherine's back. Blushing a bit unconsciously, Devon sat up, hoping few had seen the source of his distraction.

"The question was," Ms. Tupelos continued, shooting a glare at Devon. "What climate feature keeps Great Britain warm despite being at higher latitudes? Daniel, how about you?"

"The North Atlantic Current, ma'am," the Irishman replied. Ms. Tupelos nodded, satisfied with the answer, just before the bell rang, ending class.

"Worksheets on European capitals due Monday class- have a good weekend."

Ani glanced at his friend, a slight smirk to hide laughter aimed at Devon. "Very smooth, Devon. At last, I have something to remind you of whenever I get caught." Devon merely rolled his eyes.

"So we're off to the movies?" Christie popped up from behind them, throwing her arms around the two boys. "I hear Pirates of the Caribbean is still playing at Showplace." Ani perked up at this, especially considering the fact that Christie had her arm around him- even if it was just a friendly way…

"Sure," Devon replied. Spying Daniel (now that he actually knew his name) and Catherine talking a bit in the hall a few feet in front of them, he moved a half step faster than the other members of the trio, catching up to Catherine and Daniel. "Hey, Catherine- Daniel, right?"

"Yep," Daniel replied first, the tones of his Irish accent coming out. "Tha's me. Nice move in class today." Devon's face warmed slightly at the mention of his moment of distraction- especially in the presence of the source of said distraction.

"Hi, Devon. What's up?" Catherine replied, smiling a bit. Devon, ignoring the minor flutter in his midsection, continued with his intended purpose.

"Well, Ani, Christie, and I were going to catch a matinee of Pirates of Caribbean at Showplace- you two feel like going?"

"Sounds grand, mate."

"Sure, love to." Devon once again ignored the distinct feeling of flapping wings in his stomach at the last comment, and replied merely with a grin.

"Great. Feel up to walking?"

"Knew there was a catch," Daniel muttered good-naturedly. "Onward then."

The five them made their way down the halls of students, soon making their way out to the sunny and warm September day. Christie and Ani conversed with Daniel at the front of the group, arguing between the two of them with Daniel occasionally making a point and glancing between them. Meanwhile, Devon and Catherine naturally took up a place behind the trio, quietly commenting back and forth.

"The Cubs are going to pull it out this year- I can feel it," Christie commented to the two guys, always the avid believer. With the Cubs up 3-2, it might just happen this year though.

"Christie, they're the Flubbies. They **always** blow it," Ani stressed.

"Here they go again," Catherine whispered to Devon. "Now for the retort…"

"At least the Cubs got in the playoffs this year- How'd the Sox do again?"

"Can it, Christie!"

"Never fails," Devon said, shaking his head. "They argue so much, it's hard to see how they like each other."

"Well, I kind of think that's one reason why they do," Catherine mused. "Besides, I'm pretty sure they don't even realize it."

"Ani's definitely clueless about it. I made a quip this morning, he had no idea what I meant."

"And with Daniel caught in the middle of it," she added. "I'm just glad he's keeping those two from going at each other."

Devon snickered. "Would they have bruises or hickeys after that though?" Catherine giggled for a moment, and then broke out laughing as the thought played out. Devon soon joined her, nearly doubling over in amusement. Daniel just glanced over his shoulder with a confused look on his face.

Dealing with the intrusion in a different manner, Ani and Christie responded by shouting "What's so funny?", prompting the two of them to look away from each other and blush after a moment of catching each other's glance. Daniel merely muttered something that sounded like "Damn Yanks..." and continued on with the other two as Devon and Catherine exploded into another round of laughter.

Ani and Christie stayed relatively quiet for the next 5 minutes, avoided each other's gaze while Daniel attempted (strong stress on _attempted_) restart a conversation, much to the continued amusement of Catherine and Devon behind them. Devon covered the price of tickets; though paying for even a matinee tapped him out of cash on hand. The trio in front was talking again, this time firing questions at the Irish immigrant about his home country.

"It really rains all the time?" Christie asked incredulously.

"You think I'm this pale by choice?" Daniel retorted with a smirk. "My first week here, I burned so bad I look like a lobster. I saw more sun in that first week than I saw in 9 months back home in Ireland."

"Original or extra-crispy?" Ani quipped, taking the popcorn from the counter and chuckling at the Irishman, receiving a glare from the shorter yet stronger teen.

"Oh, be nice Ani," Catherine chimed up from the counter, ordering for her and Devon, despite Devon's insistence to the contrary. "Besides, we're going to be late for the movie."

"You mean the 15 minutes of previews that come before it?"

Christie rolled her eyes, sparing a moment to give him a slightly sour look. "Come on you- your wit's been getting enough of a workout today." She tugged him along by his sleeve, Daniel smiling at the quick change in manner when Christie made her opinion known.

"You don't have to get me anything," Devon insisted, still trying to sway Catherine from her choice.

"You bought tickets- besides, I feel like repaying the favor some days. You're the one who usually pays for things with us anyway," she pointed out, handing him a drink.

"Well, yeah…"

"Good, that's settled then." Catherine replied with a grin. "Let's get some seats before we really are late." The two of them sat down a few rows behind Ani, Christie, and Daniel in a practically empty theater, just as the opening previews began to roll. Taking a bite every now and then, Devon felt a slight chill go down his spine as the light dimmed in the theater. _What was that?_ Glancing around the nearly empty theater, he shook it off as the temperature in the room. Yet, the prickling at the top of his spine nagged his conscious mind that it wasn't just the air condition overworking itself…

Devon pushed those thoughts into the back of his mind as the opening theme from Pirates of the Caribbean started playing. Noticing with a slight smile that Ani and Christie had stopped arguing, Devon observed his two friends interactions; Christie had settled into the seat comfortably, leaning over slightly towards Ani. He only wished he could see his friend's expression at the moment, wondering how Ani was reacting, especially by the time she came to rest her head on Ani's shoulder.

Halfway through the movie, just after Captain Barbosa delivered his famous "You best start believin' in ghost stories missy- you're in one!" line, Devon felt Catherine shiver slightly next to him. Leaning over slightly, he whispered briefly to his friend. "Cold?"

"Kind of," she replied in similarly whispered tones, rubbing her arms. "Just had a bit of a chill come over."

"Probably just the air conditioning," Devon suggested, not knowing what else it could be.

"Yeah…probably," Catherine agreed, consciously shifting over towards warmth, coming to rest that her arm and Devon's were touching a bit. Devon personally was glad that the theater was dark; that way, she couldn't see the slight coloring of his cheeks caused by the warm, tingling feeling that originated from her touch.

The movie went on as such for the most part; the impressive special effects and swordplay bring Devon to watch with excitement despite knowing the outcome. As the lights came up in the theater, Daniel came to a stand and stretched out first, cracking his stiff neck in the process. Christie quickly realized the potentially compromising position she found herself in, sitting up and off Ani's shoulder rather swiftly, coming to her feet before he noticed she was missing from next to his head.

Devon, in an interesting turn of circumstance, found himself in a delicate situation. On the one hand, he was quite comfortable and not unhappy in the least. On the other, while he didn't have anything against Catherine's head on his shoulder, he was fairly certain he was about as red as one person could get. Add that to the fact that he knew Ani would never let him hear the end of it if he saw him, he nudged Catherine lightly, murmured into her ear.

"Catherine?"

"Mmm." _Not exactly what I was looking for…_

"Cat?"

"Mmm?" _Getting a bit better…_

"Movie's over."

"So?" She replied sleepily.

"Um…I kind of have to get up."

"Why don't you then?" Catherine asked, her eyes still closed and her head still resting on his shoulder.

"You're sort of sleeping on my shoulder…"

This brought Catherine's eyes open rather quickly, a rapid blink and soft "oh" coming before her head came up and off Devon's shoulder. "Oh...sorry," she elaborated slightly, and now she was the one flushing as her cheeks turned pink.

"S'ok," Devon replied, standing up slowly like a heavy flag unfurling in the wind. "It was a bit cold in here anyway," he added, hiding most of a smile behind a slightly embarrassed appearance. _Though quite comfortable with you on my shoulder…_

"Yeah…" Catherine agreed half-heartedly to his statement, not his unheard thoughts.

"Always better the second time through," Ani said, interrupting the gathering tension between the two. "Don't you think Catherine?"

"Yeah, especially Johnny Dep," she added with slight smirk, covering for the continuing confusion going through her own thoughts. Devon merely rolled his eyes and smiled as they made their way out into the lobby.

"Was it foggy when we came in?" Daniel asked in a nonchalant tone, pointing to the glass doors in the front of the theater.

Devon frowned, another chill running down his back. "I didn't think so…" Looking around outside as he stepped out, Devon saw practically nothing but fog all around him, barely keeping sight of his friends to his right. That is, until some of the fog cleared away and he caught sight of a large, green…thing that looked like a giant bug. With a set of nasty looking teeth and standing over 15 feet tall, Devon almost didn't notice the most fearsome portion of the creature; A pair of long, sharp blades that took the place of its arms.

"This isn't good," Ani said briefly as the bug starting walking in their direction. Then it growled.

"This is really, _really_ not good," Christie confirmed. And then things went from bad to worse.

"Twin Sickles!"

A/N: And now, onto Chapter Two…give it a few days, maybe a week. Digimon will come next chapter, promise- sorry for all the chatter and stuff, but I had to get the character development in there somehow. Next Chapter'll move faster, promise.

Read, review, comment, flame, and anything else- most of all, hope you enjoyed the first part of my first fic!


	2. Welcome to the Life of a Tamer

A/N: Second chapter- Digimon, development, and a bit more humor this chapter now that I've got some of the nuts and bolts taken care of. As per always, read, review, and enjoy!

**Rise of the Tamers**

_Chapter 2- Welcome to the Life of a Tamer_

**2:37 p.m.**

**Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States of America**

"This isn't good," Ani said briefly as the bug started walking towards them. And then it growled.

"This is really, _really_ not good," Christie confirmed. And then things went from bad to worse.

"Twin Sickles!"

"Move!" Devon shouted a second before blades of red energy slammed into the sidewalk right in front of the teens, throwing up chunks of concrete at them.

The five of them dove away from the flying debris, forcing the monster to divide its attention. Another set of energy blades lanced out towards Devon shortly after he had scrambled to his feet, missing the top of his scalp by mere inches and crashing into the base of the brick walls of the movie theater. Bricks and chunks of former bricks blew outwards over Devon's prone form along with a healthy (or rather unhealthy) amount of dust and crushed brick. Coughing, he looked up to see the monster now standing only feet from him.

"Oh, bad day," Devon managed to mutter out as he rolled to the side just as a blade slammed down into the concrete where his face would have been, avoiding what would have been a very painful meeting. The second claw crashed into ground moments after he'd pulled himself to his feet, barely able to stay on them long. A grinding noise like metal against rock told him that standing wouldn't be enough for this go around, and ran as hard as he could, slipping once and bracing himself on bloodied palms.

"Twin Sickles!" The attack hit the ground inches behind him, causing the glass that made up the front of theater to shatter, some shooting outwards toward the monster, some flying towards the now-empty lobby, with the rest falling to the ground.

Devon fell to the ground hard, a burning pain coming from his lower leg. Glancing down to see his cargo pants sliced raggedly on the back of the leg and already begin to darken red, he managed to crawl into a sitting position against the corner of two portions of wall, his leg stretched out and near useless in front of him. He turned just in time to see the monster plod its way towards him, the debris and refuse on the broken sidewalk shaking with the deliberate and heavy steps. It knew exactly what Devon knew- he wasn't going anywhere fast.

Daniel dove to the ground, scrambling behind the corner of the movie theater, with an explosion behind him alerting to him all was not well. Next to him were 3 of the others, all covered in dirt and breathing hard to escape the monster.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" He exclaimed more in shock than in hope of finding an answer.

"I have no idea," Catherine panted, hunched over, her hands on skinned knees showing through tears in jeans. She glanced up, looking around at the others for a moment. "Where's Devon?"

"I thought he was with you," Daniel panted. Another explosion, followed by the distinct sound of shattering glass pulled their attention back to the front of the theater, the four of them peering around the corner as a cloud of dust and powder rose into the air. "Oh bugger."

Ani leaned hard against the brick, taking another glance. "I'm going to hate myself in the morning for this," he said before dashing around the corner.

"Ani? What are you-?" Christie asked as he tore around the wall. "Oh God, he's going to get himself killed!" She ran after him half a moment later, picking up a two foot-long piece of pipe that had been blast loose from the building.

"Come on then," Daniel said before he pushed himself up from his resting point, but was stopped by Catherine grabbing his wrist.

"No! We've got to get Devon while they're distracting that thing," she said. "This way!" Catherine hunched over, running to a nearby car, its windshield filled with spider-web cracks from flying bricks.

Daniel shook his head once, smirking a bit. "Bright one, she is. Don't know if I like her or hate her yet." With that, he took off behind her, keeping his eye on the next hiding place.

_Funny…I didn't think dying would hurt this much_, Devon thought, gasping for breath as the towering creature stepped closer and closer, finally stopping just in front of him. Devon watched with a cold hand closing around his heart as the blades on its' hands began to glow once more. _Well…at least it'll be quick…_

"Over here, you overgrown cockroach!" Ani shouted, leaping onto the monster's back just as the attack shot out, diverting the aim of it, causing it to hit the wall above Devon, and raining more debris down on him. Holding on with every bit of strength he had, Ani locked his arms around the bucking monster's neck. His legs swinging free without some sort of grip, Ani gripped his own arms in a deadmans' grip as the monster whipped around to try and get him loose. Throwing itself back into the wall of the building, the creature turned around quickly for its size, finding Ani lying on the ground, grimacing as he clear his head. Charging its attack again, the monster stood ready this time to finish the job quickly.

"Twin Sick-" The monster was again interrupted, this time as a metal pipe flew from the side of its vision to nail it in the side of its insectoid head with a loud 'clang'. The source of the pipe stood with a smirk on her face, another pipe in her hands.

"Liked that?" Christie taunted. The creature turned slowly to her, growling. _Uh oh…nice going Christie…I just made it angry_. She tossed another piece of pipe, it twirling and hitting again with a blow that probably would have cracked its skull; if it was human.

"Uh oh…" Christie said, starting to shuffle backwards as the blades began to charge again.

"Twin Sickles!" The ground in front of her erupted in a shower of asphalt and dust, several pieces hitting her as she was tossed backwards, sliding against the car Catherine and Daniel had been hiding against moments ago.

Devon had managed to pull himself up to a sitting position, his leg still bleeding freely, when the other two members of the rescue arrived. Daniel just grinned in a way that screamed "adrenaline rush". "How you doing boyo?"

"Not too bad," Devon replied, shifting towards him. "All things considered." He took the offered hand of Daniel to stand, while Catherine came up under his arm on his weak side and supported him. He winced as he tried to put weight on his injured leg, stumbling and nearly falling over.

"Twin Sickles!" The monster was back again, his attack knocking the three of them back against the side of the building, part of the wall collapsing on top of Catherine's leg, while Daniel was knocked against the concrete base of a stop sign. Devon was left just in front of the pile of rubble cover Catherine's leg, pushing himself up just as the monster looked around the group and starting making its way towards the three of them. Daniel looked to be unconscious while Catherine was struggling to get a large portion of brick off her pinned appendage.

_It can't end like this_, Devon thought, looking over his friends. Ani was coughing and trying to get to his feet in the crushed remains of what had been a wall. Christie was slowly coming to, but had barely managed to pull herself up against the car she came to rest at the wheels of. Daniel was breathing and slightly stirring, but otherwise looked to be out of commission nearly 15 feet away from him and Catherine. Catherine was frantically trying to push off several bricks and portions of concrete that held her leg down and kept her in place. Devon himself was forcing himself to stand, ignoring the shocks of pain running up his leg, by leaning heavily against the remains of the wall. He staggered over to Catherine, helping to move one piece of rubble off her leg, but just needed to look over his shoulder to see the creature making its way toward them.

"Go," Catherine pleaded. "I'll distract him while you-"

"No chance," Devon cut her off, still working on freeing her leg. "I'm not running now." He turned as the monster stopped 20 feet away from them, staring down at the humans that had caused it so much misery. Bracing himself on the wall, Devon stood in between it and Catherine, panting heavily, too tired to run even if he wanted to. The blades of the creature rose, almost in slow motion, glowing with a sinister red energy. And then they came down.

"Twin Sickles!"

Time slowed to a crawl as events unfolded in front of his very eyes: Devon put his hands up in front of his head, a futile gesture, but a natural one. The energy shot out towards him, the air around the blades rippling as they tore through the molecules as the blades made their way towards him. _I won't let it end this way_, Devon's mind raced despite the apparent slowing of things around him.

_Are you certain?_

_What?_

_Are you certain? Wouldn't it be just easier to quit and let it all end now?_ A booming voice, all around him, yet nowhere at the same time, echoed through Devon's mind as his body tried to defend itself against the unstoppable.

_It would be easier…but it wouldn't be right. And I can't just give up now, not after we've held on this long._

_Then you are ready._

_Ready for what?_ But the voice didn't answer this time, as the blades started to speed back up, as did Devon's reactions. As the heat from the blades began to warm the flesh of his arms, a bright flash of light suddenly interrupted everything. Devon slowly looked out from behind his arms to see the monster in a state of shock as its attack had, for lack of a better explanation, disappeared. _What the…?_

Devon looked down at his hand, noticing for the first time that a device rested in it. With a round screen and a border of dark gray around it, the device sat in his hand, feeling like it naturally belonged there, like he had never put it down, with the device itself had a main color of royal blue. Looking up from the object in his hand, he looked over at Catherine, finding her in a similar state of bewilderment and holding a device identical in design, with the exception being a green and white color scheme instead. Both Ani and Christie appeared to have similar objects in their hands as they climbed to their feet, while Daniel had one near his limp hand on the ground.

Devon's attention was again brought to a new source as a cry from high above caught his ear.

"WAAAAHHH!" The cry ended as a blur of white and black crashed into the ground in front of him, throwing up more dust around him. Coughing and waving some of the dust away, Devon eventually found himself staring a catlike…thing. About two feet high and with white fur and black stripes, the creature looked up at him smiling. "Hi there! You're Devon, right?"

"How do you know my name?" Devon questioned, trying to absorb everything happening.

"I'm your partner! I'm a Digimon!"

"A Digiwhat?"

"A Digimon! My name's Tigramon and I'm here to help you!" Devon just blinked at the energetic display of emotion. More crashes near his other friends told him that other such Digimon were here…hopefully to help.

A beeping noise from the device in his hands brought his attention to it as it flashed a picture of the monster in front of him.

"Snimon, Champion level insect Digimon of the Vaccine type. Attacks are Twin Sickles, yeah, knew that one, and Slamming Attack," Devon read aloud. "Okay well that helps a bit…" He pointed it at his "partner", looking over the information given. "Tigramon, Rookie level cub Digimon of the Vaccine type. Attacks are Tiger Claw and Pouncing Strike. Sounds absolutely terrifying…"

"Hey! I know sarcasm when I hear it!"

"Well, do you mind taking this guy down first?" Devon asked as Snimon began to move again towards him.

"Not at all! Tiger Claw!" Tigramon jumped up and sliced at the insectoid Digimon, making it cry out and lash with its blades.

"Fire Mask!" A shot of flame slammed into Snimon as it flailed at the source of its pain, a small figure that looked like something out of a samurai film from Japan.

"Kotemon, Rookie level reptile Digimon of the Date type. Attacks are Fire Mask and Thunder Gauntlet," Devon read aloud, looking at Ani, who was standing up a bit shakily and looking on with awe as his partner attacked the larger Digimon.

"Scissors Attack!" A small, blue and orange crablike Digimon crashed its claw down on Snimon's leg, making it stumbled into the side of the building.

"Ice Howling!" The second attack came from a short, puppy-looking Digimon in cream colored fur and with a golden collar inscribed with unreadable markings. Devon pointed to each one of these in turn, looking at the information given from his device.

"Crabmon, Rookie level crustacean Digimon of the Data type. Attacks are Scissors Attack and Crab Meat Bomber. The other one's Salamon, Rookie level mammal Digimon of the Vaccine type. Attacks are Ice Howling and Petit Punch."

"Mud Blaster!" The last of the attacks came from a brown-tan mixed colored penguinlike creature. A bit taller than Tigramon, the Digimon puffed out its feathers and stood between Snimon and a reviving Daniel.

"Tierramon, Rookie level bird Digimon of the Vaccine type. Attacks are Mud Blaster and Rock Crusher." Devon looked at the five Digimon arrayed against Snimon- none of them by themselves seemed that strong or intimidating. Yet, they were beating back the monster when moments before Snimon had been laying waste to Devon and his friends. _Certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth- not in the state we're in now._

"Twin Sickles!" Instead of shooting the attack towards one of the Digimon, Snimon's attack hit the ground in front of it, throwing up dust and debris in front of the Digimon. Once the dust had cleared, only the retreating sound of buzzing insect wings was any proofing that Snimon had once been there.

Devon slumped back against the ruined wall of the movie theater, sliding down to the ground as his wounded and bleeding leg collapse underneath him. Tigramon appeared a moment later, putting his head on Devon's knee and looking up at him. Devon reached over and gave him a gentle pat on the head, closing his eyes. _And today started out so quiet too…_

"Come on boy- give me a hand with something." Devon slid over to where Catherine still lay pinned under some bricks, Tigramon following in a more exuberant manner. "How's your leg feeling Catherine?"

"I think okay," she replied, moving one of the bricks off her leg. "Can you give me a hand with some of these?"

"'Course." Devon grabbed one of the bricks, pulling it off the pile. A few more bricks later and Catherine was free from the debris that had threatened to entomb her in a final resting place. Resting against the wall again, Devon closed his eyes to ward off the resurgence of pain from his lower leg as he noticed that blood was starting to drip from the torn pant leg of his pants onto the broken concrete. "Catherine?"

"Yeah?" Catherine looked up from Salamon, who had ambled over to her a few moments before.

"How's Daniel doing?"

Catherine went over to where Daniel was slowly coming to, lying on his back and rubbing his head. "Daniel?"

"Oy…not so loud," he replied in a thicker accent than normal. "I think me head might explode if ye do." Catherine chuckled lightly as the Irishman took her offered hand up to sitting.

"He'll be okay, I think." Ani and Christie came over at this point, their partners, Kotemon and Crabmon respectively, shortly behind. To their right, near the former entrance of the movie theater, a circular portal opened, and out stepped a young man, no more than a year or two older than any of them. With spiky hair and dressed in a dark red sweater and black jeans, he had a smile…no, a smirk on his face that exuded confidence and a tad bit of arrogance to go with it.

"Who're you?" Devon asked as Tigramon jumped in front of his wounded partner.

"Heh…thought I'd get a reaction like that." Looking around with a somewhat sheepishly reaction, he gestured to the destroyed façade of the theater. "Sorry about the mess."

"Mind telling us what happened here?" Ani questioned, his hand clamped on a flowing gash on his left arm.

"Well, what happened here was an attack by a Digimon by the name of Snimon. It was sent here for the purpose of attacking the new Tamers here before they received their Digimon."

"Tamers?" Daniel blurted out, slowly regaining the control over his accent as he rubbed his throbbing temple. "What the bloody hell is a Tamer?"

"Well, you are- all of you that is," the teen replied. "Like me, you have Digimon partners. And with them, your job is to help protect the Real World from Digimon that attack it." _For now at least_, he thought.

"And who exactly are you?" Christie asked, emphasizing on the question asked by Devon.

The new arrival sighed, knowing he couldn't dodge the question at hand. "My name is Ryo Akiyama. I was sent here to teach all of you in becoming Tamers by one of the Digimon Sovereigns." Seeing the mix of blank stares and blinking eyes, Ryo sighed again. "Have any of you seen the television series called 'Digimon'?"

"Yeah," Devon responded after a moment of thought. "My sister's really into it actually. I used to be for a while."

"And what about the Card Game?"

"Devon and I used to play that all the time," Ani cut in. "What's that got to do with anything though?"

"Well," Ryo said, thinking how exactly he was going to explain this in a somewhat sane manner. "Your Digivices," Ryo held up his own, which was similar to the devices each of the Tamers held in their hands, "have slots that allow for you to swipe cards through them to modify your partner's traits and attacks."

"So any card we have can be used to help our Digimon battle?" Catherine asked, tilting her head to the side a bit.

"Pretty much," Ryo nodded. "Though be careful with what you use and when- the right card can be the difference between victory and a LOT of bandages later. And the wrong card can turn the tide of battle against you just as quickly."

"Wait a second," Devon frowned. "You mean the television show is real?"

"Well…kind of. Digimon are real, but not exactly in the way the show displays them as," Ryo explained. "The Digital World is not all fields and flowers." Ryo's Digivice buzzed in his hand, causing the Legendary Tamer to look down at it. "Oops. I've got to be somewhere else now- I'll be back though to help you guys out for a bit. Oh, and by the way," Ryo snapped his fingers once. "A little gift from the Sovereign who sent me. See you guys later!"

And with that, Ryo Akiyama stepped through the portal in the ruined remains of the local theater, leaving the five newly christened Tamers in a state of awe.

"Well…" Daniel muttered, getting to his feet. "That was odd. What was the gift he gave us anyway?"

"I think," Devon interrupted, standing up and testing his leg, "it was something that made up for the wounds we had. Look- no gash." Devon twisted his leg slightly to show blood-strained fabric and a bit on his leg, but unharmed flesh underneath. Ani lifted his hand from his arm to find it in similar fashion.

"Not bad," Ani commented. "Good as new- or there abouts."

"Guys? I think we should be going soon," Catherine pointed out. She gestured to the slowly thinning fog that had surrounded the battleground since they had come out of the theater. "The last thing we need now is to be the only ones at the scene of a crime and with real, live Digimon with us."

"Exit, stage right," Daniel agreed in an impeccable impersonation of Snagglepuss of cartoon fame. And with that, the five of them grabbed their Digimon and quietly vacated the area of the destroyed theater and their first brush with things to come.

A/N: So it didn't have much in the way of humor. That'll change now that the Digimon are here, along with another part of the plot coming up. As always, read and review- feel to email me any comments, criticisms, and other assorted etc.

**For the next chapter of Rise of the Tamers…**

Life becomes a bit…interesting with the welcoming of their partners to the Real World. Along with trying to adjust to hiding their new friends, the Tamers have to deal with emergences in the Real World, as well as a shadowy character that threatens to throw even more chaos into the mix.

Keep an eye out for the next chapter of Rise of the Tamers!


	3. What a Crazy World This is

A/N: And thus _begins_ my third chapter. Reviews would be nice if possible to those that are reading- yes, I know you're out there…somewhere…Anyway, a bit more humor actually does happen in this chapter (I promise) and as things begin to progress. Read, review, and enjoy!

**Rise of the Tamers**

_Chapter 3: What a crazy world this is…_

**4:52 p.m.**

**Vernon Hills, Illinois, United States of America**

"What exactly is this place?" Catherine asked a bit quizzically, ducking underneath a branch as the Tamers made their way off a path in the park.

"A bit of park that's hardly visited by anyone," Ani explained from the front, sliding past a bush. "Quiet, private, and most of all, relatively secret. Exactly what we need for figuring some things out."

"Ani, Christie, and I would come here every now and then to get away from everything," Devon elaborated as he bowed low enough to get past the branch Catherine had ducked a moment earlier.

Tigramon, unimpeded by such trivial matters as branches, bounded through the low-lying brush with ease, enjoying the sights and scents of the Real World. "Hey Devon, isn't this fun? All these trees, and bushes, and shrubs, and- OW!" Tigramon then discovered what tree trunks were by meeting one face first. Devon sighed and sweatdropped at the sight of his energetic partner.

"Might want to watch out for those," Daniel quipped from in front of Catherine. "They tend to hurt a bit if you run into them."

"Shud ub!" Tigramon responded, rubbing his sore nose in his paws. "Stubid twees," he mumbled, trying to massage out the pain from his sensitive nose. Devon rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he observed his partner's antics.

The other partners had mixed responses to their initial interactions with their partners. Salamon was laughing at Tigramon's red and sore nose as they walked along with their partners, while Tierramon puffed up his feathers at the display and waddled along like penguins do. Ani was, unsuccessfully thus far, trying to engage Kotemon in conversation, which seemed to be a doomed venture as Kotemon had yet to respond to any such attempts. Christie and Crabmon were chuckling along with Ani's well-meaning, but ultimately useless, tries to converse with his partner, sharing a few insights between themselves on the matter.

The group made their way past another set of low-lying branches, while Tigramon managed to trip over a large root in his excitement, flying into a set of bramble bushes, and coming out the other side into a clearing half-covered in thorns and other assorted barbs and pricklers.

"Ow! Devon, what are these things?" Tigramon asked, struggling to remove a prickler from his side.

"Pricklers," Devon replied, pulling it off the twisting cub.

"Stupid pricklers," Tigramon muttered again, plucking another from his paw. Devon merely rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, here we are," he said to the others, gesturing to take in the clearing they stood in. Strands of light filtered through the trees, poking through where branches and leaves swayed in the gentle breezes of fall. Around the edges of the break of trees were several logs that showed uses previously as makeshift benches and other furniture. Just past the trees on one side of the clearing was the muffled sound of a creek passing through the park, dividing the more industrial areas they had fled from against the residential areas they now resided closer to.

"Not bad," Daniel said, nodding in appreciation. "Definitely quiet and out of the way."

"I think it's really pretty here," Catherine commented, taking in the shifting rays of sunlight and waving branches of brush as their partners began to settle down into the slightly-worn grass of the clearing, with the exception of Tigramon, who was still trying to remove the sharp objects from his fur.

Ani shrugged, smiling a bit. "We aim to please."

"Alright, so let's focus on what we have to discuss here first before we head back home." Devon cut in, going for focus on the purpose of the impromptu meeting as they all took seats amongst the trees and shrubs of the small clearing.

"First things first, I think we have to figure out what we're going to tell our parents when they ask about the attack," Christie pointed out. "The first thing they're going to ask when we walk in is where we were when that happened."

"And," Ani added, "If they end up talking to each other and getting different stories, we're in deep trouble."

"There are the carnival galleries in town for the end of summer celebration," Christie suggested. "Lots of people there and plenty out of the way from the theaters."

"Plus, that can explain the Digimon," Catherine offered. "We can say we won them as part of the carnivals."

"Can they pull off the stuffed animal charade though?" Devon asked, gesturing to Tigramon, who was tugging the last thorn out of his leg, his tongue stuck in concentration. After a moment of pulling and glaring, he pulled the offending object out of his leg with a look of glee.

"What?" He asked, looking up to see everyone staring at him. "What did I do?"

Devon sweatdropped. "This'll take some work I guess…"

"They'll get better as we go," Daniel said. "We don't really have much of a choice otherwise really."

"Right…which brings us to the next thing," Devon said, rubbing around his eye, thinking about the task that faced them. "With Digimon coming through to the Real World, we're probably going to have to keep our partners nearby a lot of the time."

The others nodded in agreement, some more grudging than others. "No offense to these guys," Ani said, gesturing to the partners present, "But it's not going to be easy to do things and keep our partners around without blowing our cover. The last thing we need is a bunch after our Digimon for thinking they're the ones doing the damage."

"We don't really much other choice though," Catherine countered. "Unless you'd prefer another beating like today from Snimon."

"I'll pass on that, thank you much." Daniel put in his two cents before Ani could respond. "My ears are still ringing a bit from my little jaunt into that stop sign."

"True…though we're going to have figure some better plans than just stuffed animals if we're going to do this."

"We'll come up with things as we go," Devon conceded. Taking a quick glance at his watch, he stood from the log he had been resting on. "I've got to be getting back home- last thing I need is my parents worrying about me being at the theater **and** being late."

"Yeah, same here," Christie added, stretching as she got to her feet. "We all probably should get going."

"Alright then," Daniel said with gusto. "As crazy as this all sounds, this is going to be fun- think about it; fighting monsters, defending the world from dangers it doesn't even know about, and most important of all, making sure our parents don't ground us for coming home late after nearly getting killed."

The others laughed off the situation, even though Devon in particular still remembered how close he'd been to being a Digital shish kabob earlier today. Slowly, they began to make their way out of the brush, Tigramon taking extra care this time to avoid roots, bramble bushes, and tree trunks. Eventually, they broke off as Daniel went his way to his house, while the other four continued along the path back towards the street of their subdivision.

_What a crazy world this is_, Devon thought, his hands in his pockets. _Who would have thought though- a partner Digimon of my very own. What are things going to be like from now on? _Devon stumbled across another thought then in his processes. _How am I going to keep Tigramon hidden from my family? Can I tell them? _He dismissed that thought milliseconds after it formed. His parents would be scared to let him take steps out of the house if he told them the whole story- and they'd want the whole story. Besides, he could fool them…for a while at least. His sister…well she was a different story…

"Hey Devon?"

"Hmm?" Devon looked up from the concrete in front of him, turning his head towards the source of the interruption of his thoughts. Ani walked next to him, while Catherine and Christie were a few steps in front of them, talking about something or another. _At least it's good to see they're getting along- we'll all have to in the next few months to say the least._

"Interesting day huh?" His best friend commented. "One minute, it's Pirates of the Caribbean; the next, we're being attacked by a preying mantis on steroids. And then we meet the guy who practically started being a Digimon Tamer. Not too shabby for being on the job for about 5 hours I'd say."

Devon snorted. "Considering that we almost didn't live past 10 minutes on it, anything so far is progress."

"True," Ani conceded, staying quiet for a moment after. "The only thing I remember going through my head was how I couldn't just run away. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd jump into any sort of mess for you, but when a bug the size of a Mack truck comes out of nowhere and starts blowing things up, the first response you have is 'get the hell out of here!'"

"I know. It's a natural reaction after all, trying to stay alive and all," Devon replied, doing his best to joke about a moment that still replayed itself vividly after several hours. "Thanks for sticking around though."

"What else could I have done?" Ani responded. "Besides, if I didn't bring your sorry carcass home, your parents would have fricasseed me."

"If my sister didn't get to you first," Devon retorted with a grin before the two them shared a chuckle. "Still…I'm glad we're in this together."

"Likewise, Devon," Ani said. "All of us though. And something tells me things will only get harder for here."

"You know I hate it when you say that."

"Only because I'm usually right," he pointed out.

"Like the time I had to bail you out from that Anderson guy in 6th grade."

"Hey! It's not _my_ fault he found out that I was the one who put jell-o in his gym socks."

"'Nothing can go wrong, Devon'" Devon continued on, ignoring Ani's protest. "'He'll never found it was me anyway.' Man, you should have seen your face when you took off running out of the school building," he reminisced, smiling as the memory took hold.

"Well…I don't think I've ever run that fast since."

"For good reason- he was ready to string you up from your toe nails for that."

"Yeah, yeah…so I make mistakes now and then," Ani said, shrugging in a 'well, yeah…' way.

"I just hope you're wrong about it getting harder though."

"Me too, Devon."

Devon quietly closed the front door, holding Tigramon like a stuffed animal. With a bit of luck, maybe he could get upstairs before…

"Devon?"

He sighed. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. "Hi, mom."

"I'm glad you're home- there was something on the news about an explosion at the theater earlier."

"Oh, really?" Devon asked, playing the fool. "I was at the summer celebration with some friends the whole afternoon."

"Oh, good. I'm just glad you weren't around that when it happened."

Devon sweatdropped. "Of course mom, you know me. Wouldn't even think about it."

"What's that in your arm though?"

"This?" Devon responded. "Oh, I won it at the carnival. I'm going to dump my stuff upstairs though."

"Okay honey- dinner's in an hour."

"Gotcha mom," Devon said as he turned to go up the stairs of his house.

"It?" Tigramon asked, sounding hurt.

"Humans don't exactly think of stuffed animals as he or she, Tigramon. Technically, Digimon aren't either…"

"Well, I don't know about some of the others, but I'm pretty sure what I am."

"Alright, alright- I'm sorry. It's just not that easy with-"

"Who are you talking to?" Came the voice of Kaio, Devon's younger sister. She was sitting in the computer room, the family tabby cat- Leo- sitting in her lap as she turned the computer chair around to face the door.

_Damn…_ "Um…ah, no one." Devon responded, trying to sound innocent.

"Sure?" She asked, giving him a glance that more than suggested he was crazy. "I'm pretty sure I heard talking."

"Probably just your imagination, Kaio. It'll play tricks on you after staring at the computer all day," Devon managed to come back, diverting attention from the original topic.

"Meh…only a few hours today." She got up a moment later, a quizzical look on her face. "What's this?" Kaio asked, bending over to look at the "stuffed animal" in Devon's arm.

"Just a stuffed animal," Devon answered, hoping Tigramon didn't have to itch…

"Hmmmm…" The young girl glared at Tigramon, coming only a few inches from his nose. After a tense minute of silence, she stood up from the impromptu staring contest. "He looks real though."

"Yep," Devon said, trying to hurry her up. "Amazing how lifelike stuffed animals can look nowadays."

"Whatever," Kaio shrugged and went back to the chair, while Leo started sniffing the new arrival.

"ACHOO!"

Kaio whipped back around, glaring at her brother, who was smiling sheepishly with his finger underneath his nose, rubbing it.

"Um, bless me?"

Kaio just glared and hmphed. "Gesundheit."

And with that, Devon ducked down the hallway and into his room. Putting Tigramon down on the bed and closing his door after Leo snuck in, he gave his partner a look.

"What? I really, really had to sneeze!"

"You're just lucky Kaio didn't see you."

"Yeah, yeah…" Tigramon stretched out on the bed as Leo jumped up on it. "What do you want?"

"Reow!" Leo replied.

"Oh, fine, you can have some bed too…"

Devon rolled his eyes as he put his bag down at the foot of his bed. "Okay, ground rules- if you're here while I'm at school, you can't go out of my room. My mom subs only some days."

"Subs?"

"Substitute teaches. Sometimes she works at my sister's school, while dad works for a big entertainment group. Kind of like Sony."

"Sony?"

"Nevermind…anyway, back to the point- you can't go out of my room while I'm gone."

"But Devon! Do you have any idea how boring that'll be?"

"Leo'll keep you company- won't you Leo?" The cat in question rolled over onto his side, purring. "See, problem solved."

"Devoooon…" Tigramon whined, pawing at his arm.

The Tamer sighed. "Okay…I suppose you can go out now and then- but only when my parents are both out of the house."

"Yay!" Tigramon bounced to his paws, making Leo look up at the disruptor of his rest. "Whoa! Why's he only got one eye?"

"Oh, Leo?" Devon sat down next to the pet, rubbing the back of his ears. "He originally came in from outside. Apparently, he got into a fight with something and got his eye clawed. Ever since, we've had him inside."

"Nice to meet you, Leo," Tigramon said, sticking out his paw. Leo replied by rubbing against it, still purring. "So what's happening for the rest of the night? Anything fun planned?"

"Well, my sister's going to some sort of thing with her friends after dinner. My parents are probably going to be in the living room for a bit, and then they head to sleep around 10 or so. I usually call it quits about the same time for school. Maybe after dinner we can get out for a bit. Though, it would have to be with a leash."

"A leash?"

"People don't often take cats outside anyway- I'll try and figure something better out," Devon said. "Sorry."

"A leash…crazy humans…" Tigramon muttered.

"I think I can get you some meatloaf for dinner though," Devon pointed out.

"Cool!...uh, Devon? What's meatloaf?" Devon sighed. This was going was to be an adventure, that was for sure…

**Time: 8:13 p.m. Central Daylight Savings**

**Location: Unknown**

"Arise my minion."

"Yes, master," The Digimon, cloaked in shadow, rose from his knee to stand at a bow.

"You know why I have summoned you. You also know that cannot fail me."

"I will not, m'lord. The Tamers will not know what hit them by the time I'm finished with them."

"Although your methods are quite a bit…unorthodox…I have faith that you will not fail me as Snimon did. You must first break their will to fight and divide them against each other- then you can finish them off one at a time."

"Of course, my master. I will not fail you this time."

Alrighty then- another chapter finished and completed. I kept my promise about more humor in this one, and hope everyone likes it. Please read and **review**. I know you're reading this. Yes, you, with the glasses. And I'm not forgetting you over there with the funky t-shirt either. It's not that fun to write if I don't get feedback from you (the readers). Plus, it makes the story better if I know what I'm not doing so fantastic on- so please review. Clicky the button and make me happy.

**In the Next Chapter of Rise of the Tamers…**As the Tamers try to adjust to life with their Digimon and protecting the world (while balancing all of the _other_ things they have to worry about), a new enemy threatens to drive them apart before they can even come together. As the new Tamers deal with their inner demons about fighting and what they're actually trying to save, forces in the shadows conspire to destroy the only line of defense the Real World has with…showtunes? Find out in the next chapter of Rise of the Tamers!


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